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Seattle Symphony
| current_members = Music Director Ludovic Morlot Associate Conductor Eric Garcia Associate Conductor for Choral Activities Joseph Crnko | past_members = Founder Harry West | notable_instruments = }} in May 2009.]] The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. Its season runs from September through July. In addition to its own concerts, the Seattle Symphony serves as the pit orchestra for most productions of the Seattle Opera, including that company's annual Richard Wagner presentations each summer. History The orchestra gave its first performance on December 29, 1903, with Harry West conducting. Known from its founding as the Seattle Symphony, it was renamed in 1911 as the Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1919, the orchestra was reorganized with new bylaws under the name Seattle Symphony Orchestra. The 1921–22 season was cancelled due to financial problems."No Symphony This Season" Seattle Times, 9 October 1921, p. 21 During a portion of the following five-year hiatus, another orchestra, the Seattle Civic Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mary Davenport Engberg performed regularly. Despite subsequent embellishments that Engberg was the Seattle Symphony Orchestra's first female conductor, she in fact was never the director of the Seattle Symphony, and the Seattle Symphony was not revived until 1926 under the direction of Karl Krueger."Seattle Symphony Orchestra Assured," Seattle Times, 4 June 1926, p. 13."The Musician and the Playgoer", Town Crier, 13 November 1926, pp. 11–12. In 1947, the Seattle Symphony merged with the Tacoma Philharmonic to form the Pacific Northwest Symphony Orchestra. Performances were held in Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia, with conducting duties split between Carl Bricken and Eugene Linden.Joe Miller, "N.W. Symphony Selects Name," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 1 October 1947. This arrangement ceased after one season, when the Seattle Symphony decided to withdraw from it.Esther W. Campbell, Bagpipes in the Woodwind Section: A History of the Seattle Symphony and its Women's Organization, (Seattle: Seattle Symphony Women's Organization, 1978), p. 58. A feud between the musicians and the board surfaced in 1948, and a majority of the musicians divorced themselves from the board and created a new orchestra called the Seattle Orchestra, a partnership (collective) operated by the musicians themselves, who chose Linden as their conductor.Ibid., p. 57. The Seattle Symphony announced a separate orchestra season with eighteen concerts at the old Meany Hall on the University of Washington campus. The symphony was to be directed by Stanley Chapple, and a series of guest conductors: Artur Rodzinski, Jacques Singer, and Erich Leinsdorf.Richard E. Hays, "Seattle Symphony Lists 18 Concerts for Season," Seattle Times, 10 October 1948. Personnel for the Seattle Symphony were announced in the press on October 24, 1948, and included a few musicians who had chosen not to defect to the Seattle Orchestra and some new faces as well."Orchestra Personnel for 2 Groups Listed," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 24 October 1948. The Seattle Symphony season was then postponed and eventually cancelled. The Seattle Orchestra, meanwhile, gave its first performance on November 23, 1948.Seattle Orchestra, Program, 23 November 1948. An accommodation was reached between the Seattle Symphony and the Seattle Orchestra, and the two organizations merged, and the name "Seattle Symphony Orchestra" was retained. The partnership system was also retained, and musicians gained access onto the board.Suzanne Martin, "Music Groups in Agreement on Symphony," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 13 January 1949, p. 3. The partnership system was eventually dissolved at the request of Milton Katims in 1955.Seattle Musicians Association, Minutes, Meeting of the Board of Directors, 25 March 1955, 1 June 1955. Even so, for most of its 100-year history, and especially today, the ensemble is known by the two-word name "Seattle Symphony". The current music director, Gerard Schwarz, became music advisor of the orchestra in 1983 and principal conductor in 1984, before being named music director in 1985. Under Schwarz's leadership, the orchestra has become particularly known for performing works of twentieth century composers, especially of neglected American composers. Together, Schwarz and the orchestra have made over 100 commercial recordings, including the major orchestral works of Howard Hanson and David Diamond, for labels including Delos International and Naxos Records. The orchestra received its first Grammy nomination in January 1990 for a 1989 recording of music of Howard Hanson. The orchestra also recorded a musical score to the SeaWorld, Orlando stage show A'lure, The Call of the Ocean. Schwarz has received praise for his championing of American composers and his skills in fund-raising. However, his tenure has also been marked by public controversies between him and several symphony musicians, which included several legal disputes. In September 2008, the orchestra announced the conclusion of Schwarz's music directorship after the 2010–2011 season, at which time Schwarz is scheduled to become the orchestra's conductor laureate. In June 2010, the Seattle Symphony announced the appointment of Ludovic Morlot as its 15th music director, effective with the 2011–2012 season, with an initial contract of six years. Morlot is to hold the title of music director designate during the 2010–2011 season. Music Directors References Sources * External links *Seattle Symphony official website *University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections - The Milton Katims Audio Collection Category:American orchestras Category:Musical groups established in 1903 Category:Non-profit organizations based in Seattle, Washington Category:Musical groups from Seattle, Washington fr:Orchestre symphonique de Seattle it:Seattle Symphony Orchestra he:תזמורת סיאטל nl:Seattle Symphony ja:シアトル交響楽団